krainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv is studying the possibility of obtaining security guarantees from members of the UN Security Council (UNSC), including China.

In an interview with China’s state-owned Xinhua news agency, Kuleba said the Budapest Memorandum on security assurances has failed to guarantee real security to Ukraine. According to Kuleba, security in Europe will improve when Russia withdraws its troops from Ukraine.

The Ukrainian foreign minister told Xinhua that Kyiv is now exploring possibilities of obtaining security guarantees from UNSC permanent members and other major powers, including China, and is offering Beijing to become one of Ukraine’s security guarantors.

He added that Kyiv hopes that Beijing will call on Russia to initiate a ceasefire in Ukraine to avoid an escalation of the situation.

Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. Russia said that the aim of its special operation is to demilitarize and “de-nazify” Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had said the goal is to protect the people of eastern Ukraine, “who have been subjected to abuse, genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.”

Refuting such claims, western countries have imposed severe sanctions on Russia.